Introducing PECs

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was primarily working with a non-verbal student named Bob* this year. A big goal, with any student, but especially a non-verbal one, is increasing expressive communication.

Currently we're working on introducing PECs. PECs (a picture exchange communication system from Pyramid Educational Consultants) is a visual system of communication. PECs is a widely used system to teach functional communication skills to individuals with Autism.

Currently, as far as I'm aware, there does not appear to be a functional communication system currently in place for Bob (in other words, he has no way to make his wants or needs known to others). Right now, I'm attempting to ascertain what motivates Bob, and having some success there, but it would be nice to expand on this.

I feel that Bob is capable of initiating some spontaneous communication in specific settings or situations, and if taught to do so, would be able to function more independently than he does now. Since his visual tracking is pretty good, and his attentiveness is fairly high, I think this is the best possible option for a communication system. Although his motor skills are a bit inconsistent, I think they're sufficiently developed to enable him to exchange pictures to initiate communication.

Right now we're working on reinforcers, which is step 1. Fortunately, it's pretty easy because we have already identified several good reinforcers--things that are not too freely available in the classroom that can be rationed out during training sessions only. Symbols seem to be a bit too abstract for Bob right now, so we're starting with actual pictures and working towards introducing symbols. Since Bob knows shapes, I think eventually we could transition to using more symbols.

Right now my focus is on making sure he understands the cause-and-effect relationship between handing me a card, and getting a reinforcer. I've practiced this a few times, and he seems willing to do it with me. I've also introduced (briefly) the idea of making choices this way (during lunch), but it's not something I expect Bob to fully master for awhile yet.